A Round of Applause
When you go to the theater you may never see your name in lights but your role as an audience member is just as important as the star of the show. A play never really exists until it is performed in front of an audience. That makes an audience what the art of playwriting is all about, it's the magic of the theater and the excitement of imagination. Plays must be written so that the audience member changes deep inside, and seeing the writer change as well. Theater is a social event and to feel its full effect it must be experienced as a group. Most people come to be entertained, to have their emotions stirred, or to laugh. Theater uses bright lights, movement and dance to keep your attention. Even though you are there as individuals, an audience quickly becomes a group. A social psychologist by the name of Emory Bogardus said that through willing suspension of disbelief, individual differences melt away; you become a crowd, and the nature of your response changes. In his discussion of crowd behavior he also points out that, "A heightened state of suggestibility is characteristic of a crowd. The preponderance of feelings over reason heightens suggestibility. The excitement that frequently prevails in a crowd throws perso
Audience knowledge is an important part in a production. It is how much you what to let the crowd see and believe. The type of audience depends on the types of plays being performed. There are two types of audiences, voluntary and involuntary. Involuntary requires no conscious effort. Actors depend on the audience to give the response they are looking for. It's just like if your mother came in the house, screamed your name and you were sitting right around the corner, you might take that to mean that she's mad at you when all she was trying to do is make sure you heard her. It is hard to make people believe something if you yourself don't believe it. It's also important for the actor to remember that the crowd has paid good money to watch them perform so he/she should perform to the greatest of their ability. For instance, if you're doing a comedy and you say something you expect the crowd to laugh at and they don't, the relationship between the actor and the audience becomes awkward and the actor becomes nervous causing him not to perform to his true ability. " A part of the problem of controlling attention is avoiding the distractions that curse a theatrical performance, such as people coming in late, the rustling of programs, foot shuffling, coughs and sneezes as well as distractions that may occur onstage such as missed cues, long waits, poor costumes, obvious makeup, scenery that shakes when a door is slammed, a crooked picture, and light-reflecting surfaces. If you compare an audience at an opera house with one at a musical comedy you will see more enthusiastic people where as at an opera you would expect to see more sympathetic attitudes. Same is true in a play, if someone is telling someone to do something and they yell it so the audience can hear them, it sounds like more of a demand to the people in the front row. I've found that college has not only given me the opportunity to be a part of an audience, but it has also given me the chance to paint, build, run lights, take tickets or even act in the imaginary world that others will see.
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Acceptance Essays
